1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a leak-detecting shut-off device, and more particularly relates to a leak-detecting shut-off device for a water purifier that can apply force evenly, can be actuated accurately and can be assembled conveniently.
2. Description of Related Art
With reference to FIG. 7, a conventional leak-detecting shut-off device 50 for a water purifier 40 has a valve seat 51, a holding mount 52 and an operating set 53. The valve seat 51 is mounted in the water purifier 40 and has a top, a front side, a rear side, a mounting recess 511, an inlet pipe 512 and an outlet pipe 513. The mounting recess 511 is transversally for cried in the valve seat 51 and has an open end, a closed end, an inner wall and a sealing surface 514. The open end of the mounting recess 511 is formed through the rear side of the valve seat 51. The closed end of the mounting recess 511 is formed in the valve seat 51 and is opposite to the open end of the mounting recess 511 adjacent to the front side of the valve seat 51. The sealing surface 514 is annularly formed on the inner wall of the mounting recess 511 near the closed end of the mounting recess 511 and is tapered from the open end to the closed end of the mounting recess 511.
The inlet pipe 512 is formed on and protrudes from the top of the valve seat 51 and communicates with the mounting recess 511 between the open end and the sealing surface 514 of the mounting recess 511. The outlet pipe 513 is formed on and protrudes from the top of the valve seat 51 near the front side of the valve seat 51, is parallel with the inlet pipe 512 and communicates with the mounting recess 511 between the closed end and the sealing surface 514 of the mounting recess 511.
The holding mount 52 is L-shaped, is connected to the valve seat 51 and has a front side, a rear side, a connecting board 521, a mounting tube 522 and an expansion element 523. The connecting board 521 is formed on the front side of the holding mount 52 and is connected to the rear side of the valve seat 51 to close the open end of the mounting recess 511. The mounting tube 522 is hollow, is formed on and protrudes from the rear side of the holding mount 52 and is formed with the connecting board 521. The mounting tube 522 has an open top and an open bottom. Preferably, the mounting tube 522 has multiple holding ribs formed on an internal surface of the mounting tube 522 at intervals near the open bottom of the mounting tube 522. The expansion element 523 is mounted in the mounting tube 522 and is held in the mounting tube 522 by the holding ribs.
The operating set 53 is connected to the valve seat 51 and the holding mount 52 and has a valve shaft 531 and an operating tab 532. The valve shaft 531 is movably mounted in the mounting recess 511 of the valve seat 51 and has a sealing end and a pivot end. The sealing end of the valve shaft 531 is mounted in the mounting recess 511 adjacent to the sealing surface 514 and selectively abuts against the sealing surface 514 of the mounting recess 511. The pivot end of the valve shaft 531 extends out of the valve seat 51 via the connecting board 521 of the holding mount 52. The operating tab 532 is pivotally connected to the valve shaft 531, abuts against the connecting board 521, and is selectively mounted above the expansion element 523 that is mounted in the mounting tube 522. The operating tab 532 has an abutting end, an operating end, a pivot 533 and a spring 534. The abutting end of the operating tab 532 is pivotally connected to the pivot end of the valve shaft 531 and rotatably abuts the connecting board 521 of the holding mount 52. The operating end of the operating tab 532 extends above the expansion element 523. The pivot 533 is connected to the abutting end of the operating tab 532 and is connected to the pivot end of the valve shaft 531 to enable the operating tab 532 to rotatably connect with the valve shaft 531. The spring 534 is mounted around the valve shaft 531 between the sealing end of the valve shaft 531 and the connecting board 521 of the holding mount 52.
In use, when the operating tab 532 is rotated relative to the connecting board 521 to move above the mounting tube 522, the valve shaft 531 is moved relative to the mounting recess 511 with the operating tab 532 and this will enable the sealing end of the valve shaft 531 to move away from the sealing surface 514 of the mounting recess 511. Then, the outlet pipe 513 communicates with the inlet pipe 512 via the mounting recess 511 and a gap that is formed between the sealing surface 514 of the mounting recess 511 and the sealing end of the valve shaft 531. With reference to FIG. 8, when water leaks out of the water purifier 40, the expansion element 523 draws the leaking water from the open bottom of the mounting tube 522 and is expanded out of the open top of the mounting tube 522 to upwardly push the operating end of the operating tab 532. The operating tab 532 is rotated relative to the connecting board 521 by the upward force of the expansion element 523, and the valve shaft 531 is moved with the operating tab 532 relative to the mounting recess 511 to enable the sealing end of the valve shaft 531 to abut against the sealing surface 514 of the mounting recess 511. Then, water that flows in the inlet pipe 512 cannot flow into the outlet pipe 513 via the mounting recess 511 and this can provide a shutoff effect to the water purifier 40.
Although the conventional leak-detecting shut-off device 50 can provide a shutoff effect to the water purifier 40, the expansion element 523 pushes the operating tab 532 upwardly by a partial area of a top of the expansion element 523 and this cannot enable the total pushing force of the expanded expansion element 523 to evenly push the operating tab 532. Then, the operating tab 532 can be pushed to rotate relative to the connecting board 521 after the expansion element 523 is expanded to a certain volume, and that means the conventional leak-detecting shut-off device 50 cannot immediately and accurately provide a shutoff effect to the water purifier 40.
In addition, the operating tab 532 is connected to the pivot end of the valve shaft 531 by the pivot 533 and the spring 534 is mounted around the valve shaft 531, and an elastic force of the spring 534 will enable the pivot end of the valve shaft 531 to move into the mounting recess 511. Then, in assembly, the valve shaft 531 needs to be fixed by a tool to enable the pivot end of the valve shaft 531 to extend out of the valve seat 51 and to connect with the abutting end of the operating tab 532 by the pivot 533. Therefore, the conventional leak-detecting shut-off device 50 is inconvenient and time-consuming in assembly.
Therefore, the present invention provides a leak-detecting shut-off device to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.